1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an unmanned trackless order picking forklift system. More particularly, the present invention relates to the unmanned trackless order picking forklift system guided along a fixedly predetermined route.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, unmanned order picking forklifts are roughly divided into an unmanned trackless type and an unmanned track type according to their driving routes. The unmanned trackless types are further divided into a fixed route type, a semi-fixed route type and an unfixed route type. Furthermore, the unmanned track types are divided into a chain drive trailer and a trolley.
Conventional unmanned vehicles are described in several patents, for example, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,283,890, entitled “Work Convey System, Unmanned Convey Vehicle System, Unmanned Convey Vehicle, and Work Convey Method,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,521, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle System,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,079, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,703, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle, Automated Guided Vehicle System and Wafer Carrying Method,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,591, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle System,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,626, entitled “Wafer Transfer System, Wafer Transfer Method and Automated Guided Vehicle System,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,200, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle, Operation Control System and Method for the Same, and Automotive Vehicle” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,521, entitled “Automated Guided Vehicle System”.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,175, entitled “Forklift” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,460,016, entitled “Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System for a Forklift” disclose a conventional forklift device which cannot be operated in an unmanned control. However, there exists a need of providing an unmanned trackless order picking forklift guided along a predetermined and fixed route.
The above-mentioned patents are incorporated herein by reference for purposes including, but not limited to, indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art.
As is described in greater detail below, the present invention provides an unmanned trackless order picking forklift system. A CPU device controls a vehicle-driving system and a vehicle-position-adjusting system. The vehicle-position-adjusting system is operated to detect a fixedly predetermined route along which to drive the unmanned trackless order picking forklift by the vehicle-driving system in such a way as to mitigate and overcome the above problem.